Someone mentioned that he disconnected his keezer liquid lines before heading off on an extended trip and came home to find 6 inches of beer in his keezer due to failed poppets. I will be traveling for business for several months and plan to disconnect both sets of lines from kegs. I am wondering whether I should discharge the CO2 in each keg as well, recognizing that it may take a week or see to recarb upon return. They will each be no more than half full so the equilibrium keg pressure should eventually get to maybe 3-5 psi or so, from 10 psi. Interested to hear advice on this matter. Thanks in advance.
Discharging CO2 from keezer kegs when away for extended period
- Thread starter RichB1
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If it ain't leaking when connected, I wouldn't futz with it. I would be tempted to shut the tank valve on CO2, but that's me.
If the beer is carbed, and it's not leaking now, you should be fine with disconnecting the lines. Your beer shouldn't need to be recarbed when you return. You might lose a little pressure, but your beer shouldn't uncarb.
Poppet failure would best be mitigated by leaving the lines attached. But that's just about poppets.
I've never disconnected kegs' gas or liquid lines in my keezer or my fridges when leaving the house for a day or two weeks. They don't leak when connected, and as mentioned an unconnected post is just a poppet leak away from disaster...
Cheers!
Cheers!
I don't see any benefit to disconnecting either gas or liquid lines. What are you hoping to accomplish?
FloppyKnockers
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This. Whenever I leave for an extended period, I will shut the CO2 off and depressurize the kegs leaving the lines attached.
I didn't used to until that one time I should have :/
I always leave my kegs disconnected unless I'm serving with never any issues. In fact, I prefer to keep my kegs disconnected between serving to reduce micro oxidation.
However, all my kegs are new and not used
I gave up on used kegs as I found them too unreliable, not to mention the outsides were always gross dirty and the rubber would leave marks in my bathtub and rub off on my fingers.
However, all my kegs are new and not used
I gave up on used kegs as I found them too unreliable, not to mention the outsides were always gross dirty and the rubber would leave marks in my bathtub and rub off on my fingers.
I will be away for several months. My fear is of a failure of the tap or lines that could result in kegs emptying either in the keezer or on the floor. Alternatively I could keep the liquid line attached to mitigate the risk of poppet failure. But if I disconnected both gas and liquid lines and released some of the pressure, the risk would be all but eliminated. Although I have maintained my kegs and replaced all o-rings, they are all quite used. I haven't had any problems in the past few years so maybe I am overly concerned. Appreciate the feedback
Broken Crow
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Poppets take a long time to fail, and when they degenerate they don't usually leak until they're disturbed..unless you're talking years. Personally, I'd welcome the opportunity to test my work by leaving it for months and seeing if I'd lost any gas over that time. If you're taking suggestions, mine is: Leave it and either learn, or have your work validated. Any kind of failure that exposes itself will have been lurking there all along, just too slow to notice....isn't it better to find out?
Think you're overly concerned
Just disconnect them & make sure no leaks before you leave
I leave kegs connected but turn off the gas at the regulator. If I return home in a few weeks and find a flat keg I know there's a micro leak somewhere that had avoided detection.
whattabrau
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FWIW, I'm either in team do-nothing (except turn CO2 off) or then I'd make arrangements to drink everything before leaving.
I carbonate pretty much everything naturally, so there's a pressure on both sides of 2bar in my unconnected kegs, and I've never had an issue (*knock knock*). I have had to drain the keezer, but that's a fairly contained mess. So, I'm not sure the poppet failure is a huge issue unless you're *really really* unlucky.
Besides, bleeding the kegs without completely decarbonating the beer will probably make the poppets more likely to fail, since there's less pressure in the keg pushing them shut in addition to the spring.
I can also imagine that there would eventually be gas pockets with oxygen in the lines, which might start growing something. So, you might have to toss the lines before you resume service. In that regard it does make sense to change from "do-nothing" to "disconnect-liquid".
I carbonate pretty much everything naturally, so there's a pressure on both sides of 2bar in my unconnected kegs, and I've never had an issue (*knock knock*). I have had to drain the keezer, but that's a fairly contained mess. So, I'm not sure the poppet failure is a huge issue unless you're *really really* unlucky.
Besides, bleeding the kegs without completely decarbonating the beer will probably make the poppets more likely to fail, since there's less pressure in the keg pushing them shut in addition to the spring.
I can also imagine that there would eventually be gas pockets with oxygen in the lines, which might start growing something. So, you might have to toss the lines before you resume service. In that regard it does make sense to change from "do-nothing" to "disconnect-liquid".
Unless you have EVA on the gas and liquid, I would disconnect the QDs a day ahead of time and just make sure none of the poppets are leaking.
